Set in a predominantly Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City, the show was nominated for 13 Tony Awards. It won four of them. It was also up for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The musical dramatizes a number of universal themes like family and neighborhood solidarity, the value of tradition, the support of elders, the importance of higher education, love, financial security and ethnic identification.

But make no mistake about it, the real attraction of this show is not its focus on issues of importance to all communities, but the group song and dance numbers that have you bouncing right out of your seat along with its salsa-sprinkled beats and rhythms. And it's no different in the current production of the musical at Westchester Broadway Theatre. All performers in its cast deliver, and in spades.

Hudes' book for "In the Heights" doesn't grab you like those of "West Side Story," "South Pacific," "Fiddler On the Roof" or "Rent." The life struggles of its characters seem ratcheted down in importance when compared to those other shows.

More Information

If you go"In the Heights" runs through March 17 at the Westchester Broadway Theatre, 1 Broadway Plaza, Elmsford, N.Y. Dinner theater schedules are Wednesday and Thursday matinees 11:15 a.m.; Sunday 11:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.; Monday, Thursday to Saturday, 6:15 p.m. Tickets are $52 to $80 plus tax, and may be purchased by calling the box office at 914-592-2222 or contacting www.BroadwayTheatre.com.

When you get to it, Morgan Marcell's dance routines in the current Westchester show, based as they are on Andy Blankenbuehler's choreography in the original Broadway production, make the Hudes storyline sometimes seem perilously close to an exercise in kitsch.

You're so impressed by the group dance numbers, you could care less about whether Nina (played by the vocally accomplished Arielle Jacobs, reprising her featured role in the original production) has dropped out of school, to the dismay of her father, Kevin Rosario (Benjamin Perez in a heartfelt portrayal).

When director John Fanelli's high-energy cast members propel themselves in dance numbers, you're not particularly riveted on whether Daniela (a fetching Ariana Valdes) closes her salon, or how Usnavi (an arresting and sprightly Perry Young) and Vanessa (a determined Gizel Jimenez) make each other jealous, whether or not Sonny (a commanding Greg Laucella) commissions a graffiti mural of the matriarch Abuela Claudia (in a stunning characterization by Christina Aranda) or whether the hardworking and devoted Benny (a steadfast Fatye) will make it with Nina against all odds (he's an African-American in a predominantly Latino barrio).

You just want triple-threat performers to start doing their thing again to Lin-Manuel Miranda's music, as directed by Shelton Becton.

The Westchester production of "In the Heights" is the first production of the musical in the wider NYC area since the show closed on Broadway.